[Android Central Question]

I recently bought an Android 10 head unit for my car from a company called Joying. I am loving it so far, but the only downside is that I cannot send and receive texts on the unit unless connected to Android Auto. One of the reasons I purchased a full android unit was to make use of full android features. Does anyone know of a way to send and receive texts, preferably via Google Assistant similar to how it works in AA, on full Android head units?

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Native SMS would require telephony, which is unlikely to be on any head unit. It's why you typically can't send SMS on a tablet either, even if the tablet is LTE or 5G capable.

If you use Google Voice, you might be able to send messages that way.

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/as...community.html

[Mooncatt]

My general advise for these things are to ditch them and get a name brand stereo. These Android units are made by fly by night companies, with junk components, relatively horrible sound, and no customer support.

[Matt Freund]

B. Diddy,

Thanks for the welcome! I completed my registration.

Yea I tried a few different apps like pushbullet and mysms, but those did not work. I know that Google is trying with Messages to create an ecosystem to compete with Apples iMessage, but as far as I know, Google's only works with Google and Samsung products. I am hoping that they roll this out to all Android devices as well. Maybe that will solve my issue.

I had thought about google voice as well, I just did not want to deal with having a second phone number.

Thanks for the input!

Mooncatt,

Yea I had looked into that as well and the 3 main things that made me choose the route I did was plug and play installation, price, and full android capabilities. This was my first head unit that I had personally installed, so I did not want to deal with soldering and buying extra parts to make everything work. I did look into different companies and from everything I saw, Joying had some really good reviews on both the unit and the customer service. I have only had the unit for 2 weeks so I cannot attest to longevity, but the customer service has been great so far. This was just to upgrade the stereo on my "beater" 2013 Rav4 so I wasnt sure if I wanted to drop big dollars on it. Maybe in the future!

If I went name brand, what would you recommend? I have seen some cool ones from Kenwood and Sony recently.

Thanks for the input!

[hallux]

Out of curiosity - what does "full Android" get you other than "hey, look what I can do"? When you're driving you're DRIVING, not playing on your Android head unit.

Shoot - Android Auto has the ability to play some games (instant-play from Play Games) if you're parked with the parking brake engaged (at least on my 21 Outback). Beyond that it's maps, music/podcasts and phone calls/texts.

Kenwood and Pioneer I hear make good Android Auto head units.

As for price being a factor - you'll end up getting what you pay for. I'm kind of surprised it has Android 10 on it, but that's probably all it'll get, those companies don't have a history of updating the units.

[Matt Freund]

Oh I am 100% not playing around on the unit while driving, so I see what you mean. Honestly a huge draw for me was the ability to download a business podcast audio that I subscribe to that is not compatible with Android Auto. That is primarily what I listen to while in the car, and I loved the idea of having it right on my head unit rather than feeding it through bluetooth. It is also nice because the unit has split screen functionality. So as an example, I had to take a 6.5 hour trip for business last week and I had Waze running on half of the screen and my podcast app on the other half. It was great not to have to toggle between the two in order to switch to the next audio file. The customization and the lack of limitations also really drew me in, but in reality, if my podcast app was compatible with Android Auto, that is probably all I would need/care about at the end of the day.

[B. Diddy]

I know that Google is trying with Messages to create an ecosystem to compete with Apples iMessage, but as far as I know, Google's only works with Google and Samsung products. I am hoping that they roll this out to all Android devices as well. Maybe that will solve my issue.

RCS is becoming more and more widely available (not just for Google and Samsung), but I'm pretty sure that still requires telephony.

[Matt Freund]

RCS is becoming more and more widely available (not just for Google and Samsung), but I'm pretty sure that still requires telephony.

Oh that is interesting, I did not know that. I assume that is why only some of the newer Samsung Tablets can use this feature.

[Mooncatt]

Mooncatt,

Yea I had looked into that as well and the 3 main things that made me choose the route I did was plug and play installation, price, and full android capabilities. This was my first head unit that I had personally installed, so I did not want to deal with soldering and buying extra parts to make everything work. I did look into different companies and from everything I saw, Joying had some really good reviews on both the unit and the customer service. I have only had the unit for 2 weeks so I cannot attest to longevity, but the customer service has been great so far. This was just to upgrade the stereo on my "beater" 2013 Rav4 so I wasnt sure if I wanted to drop big dollars on it. Maybe in the future!

If I went name brand, what would you recommend? I have seen some cool ones from Kenwood and Sony recently.

Thanks for the input!

For radios, I'm partial to Pioneer and JVC, but Sony, Alpine, and Kenwood should be fine too. I would avoid the bargain brands like Jensen, Boss, and Dual for durability and sound quality reasons. Hallux is right that you get what you pay for. While yours apparently has good reviews, understand that it is not a brand anyone into car audio is going to recognize, and fake reviews are a HUGE problem with online marketplaces like Amazon. Or if the listing I found is correct, not enough reviews to know either way.

https://www.amazon.com/JOYING-Touchs...cUvbUpU7012413

One thing of note about these brands is that they only talk up the Android system and not the aspects that make a radio good. Any audio related specs they give are vague at best. If you ever do want to replace it, Crutchfield.com is a great resource, and you can feel free to hit me up to help make sense of specs.

Of your reasons to buy:

1. Plug and play install: A radio is a radio when it comes to installations. I'm sure you had to buy a wire harness adaptor at least to connect this one to your factory harness. This would be true of any radio. I will say it's becoming more involved with newer vehicles due to the extra OEM functions that now run through an infotainment system, but still mostly plug and play. The biggest issue these days is increased cost to retain OEM functions, followed by possibilities of cutting the dash or getting a non-standard sized radio to fit. Radios can also be moved vehicle to vehicle, or resold. If you hang on to the factory unit, you can reinstall it when getting rid of the vehicle, and keep your aftermarket one for others.

2. Price: It looks like yours was about $300. You can get decent name brand units about that price or less. You can obviously pay a lot more too, and it just depends on what features you want. One of my radios was about $600 new, but I ran it for over a decade and in many vehicles. I then sold it off for $150. So if you consider longevity and can afford it, that high upfront cost can be worth it.


3. Android capabilities: This is subjective I guess. Like Hallux said, I can't think of much an Android radio does that a regular radio can't, for purposes of car usage. I personally don't have a desire for that. The one thing yours can do that many regular radios can't is saving files internally. If you don't want to use Bluetooth controls or run an aux input, one workaround would be a small USB thumb drive with a radio that can accept them. My last radio could read mp3's from a thumb drive and I could play them just like yours (albeit via removable storage). If you can download the podcasts as an mp3 or similar, this could work for you. For icing on the cake, my last radio was a Pioneer and had an option to make the radio lighting reactive to the music being played from the thumb drive, and another option to make itself almost like a virtual DJ when transitioning between tracks.

Just some things to think about if and when the time comes to buy another one.

[Matt Freund]

For radios, I'm partial to Pioneer and JVC, but Sony, Alpine, and Kenwood should be fine too. I would avoid the bargain brands like Jensen, Boss, and Dual for durability and sound quality reasons. Hallux is right that you get what you pay for. While yours apparently has good reviews, understand that it is not a brand anyone into car audio is going to recognize, and fake reviews are a HUGE problem with online marketplaces like Amazon. Or if the listing I found is correct, not enough reviews to know either way.

https://www.amazon.com/JOYING-Touchs...cUvbUpU7012422

One thing of note about these brands is that they only talk up the Android system and not the aspects that make a radio good. Any audio related specs they give are vague at best. If you ever do want to replace it, Crutchfield.com is a great resource, and you can feel free to hit me up to help make sense of specs.

Of your reasons to buy:

1. Plug and play install: A radio is a radio when it comes to installations. I'm sure you had to buy a wire harness adaptor at least to connect this one to your factory harness. This would be true of any radio. I will say it's becoming more involved with newer vehicles due to the extra OEM functions that now run through an infotainment system, but still mostly plug and play. The biggest issue these days is increased cost to retain OEM functions, followed by possibilities of cutting the dash or getting a non-standard sized radio to fit. Radios can also be moved vehicle to vehicle, or resold. If you hang on to the factory unit, you can reinstall it when getting rid of the vehicle, and keep your aftermarket one for others.

2. Price: It looks like yours was about $300. You can get decent name brand units about that price or less. You can obviously pay a lot more too, and it just depends on what features you want. One of my radios was about $600 new, but I ran it for over a decade and in many vehicles. I then sold it off for $150. So if you consider longevity and can afford it, that high upfront cost can be worth it.


3. Android capabilities: This is subjective I guess. Like Hallux said, I can't think of much an Android radio does that a regular radio can't, for purposes of car usage. I personally don't have a desire for that. The one thing yours can do that many regular radios can't is saving files internally. If you don't want to use Bluetooth controls or run an aux input, one workaround would be a small USB thumb drive with a radio that can accept them. My last radio could read mp3's from a thumb drive and I could play them just like yours (albeit via removable storage). If you can download the podcasts as an mp3 or similar, this could work for you. For icing on the cake, my last radio was a Pioneer and had an option to make the radio lighting reactive to the music being played from the thumb drive, and another option to make itself almost like a virtual DJ when transitioning between tracks.

Just some things to think about if and when the time comes to buy another one.

Thank you so much for all the help. Part of me wishes that I would have asked these questions beforehand, but being that this is my only issue, more of a minor inconvenience, with the unit so far, its something I can deal with for fulfilling my main purposes for the upgrade. However, once I decide to replace this unit I will know where to go for advice.

Thank you again!

[Mooncatt]

Thank you so much for all the help. Part of me wishes that I would have asked these questions beforehand, but being that this is my only issue, more of a minor inconvenience, with the unit so far, its something I can deal with for fulfilling my main purposes for the upgrade. However, once I decide to replace this unit I will know where to go for advice.

Thank you again!

You're welcome.

[hallux]

Oh that is interesting, I did not know that. I assume that is why only some of the newer Samsung Tablets can use this feature.

That's not necessarily a feature of RCS, that's a Samsung feature allowing you to take calls and texts on 'linked' devices, as long as both are Samsung. When they update to Android 12 I believe they will also need to be on the same WiFi network.

[mustang7757]

Oh I am 100% not playing around on the unit while driving, so I see what you mean. Honestly a huge draw for me was the ability to download a business podcast audio that I subscribe to that is not compatible with Android Auto. That is primarily what I listen to while in the car, and I loved the idea of having it right on my head unit rather than feeding it through bluetooth. It is also nice because the unit has split screen functionality. So as an example, I had to take a 6.5 hour trip for business last week and I had Waze running on half of the screen and my podcast app on the other half. It was great not to have to toggle between the two in order to switch to the next audio file. The customization and the lack of limitations also really drew me in, but in reality, if my podcast app was compatible with Android Auto, that is probably all I would need/care about at the end of the day.

What Android version its running? Does it have a slot to use sim card? Or ootion to mirror your phone to the display?